Game One Takeaways

[John Hammonds]

Andrew Luck - Number 12 is fully back.  He can make the throws; he can make the reads; he can run when he needs to; he can take the hits.  Everything that everyone was afraid of last March is all gone.  He's back.

And here's an interesting comparison.  It doesn't seem to matter who Tom Brady has for receivers.  They may be a cast of nobodies, but when he throws to them, they shine.  Luck's doing the same thing.  Throwing to a cast of nobodies, and making them shine.

 

Offensive Tackle - We just can't seem to escape the injury bug digging deep into our depth chart, can we?  Castonzo, Good, Clarke.  All three of them.  And all we could do is start converted guards, and cross our fingers.  It wasn't that bad, but I sure can't wait for the return of our true tackles.

 

The Rookies - We started four rookies, and all the rookies contributed.

Quentin Nelson was a beast.  He was everything we hoped he would be.  Can you imagine what he's gonna be like once he gets a few years of NFL experience under his belt?

Jordan Wilkins started at RB.  He wasn't great, but he wasn't bad.  He made the most of his attempts, and did good.  No, I don't think he's the second coming of Jim Brown.  But Turbin had better work hard when he gets back.

Nyhelm Hines did great.  It's almost as if the preseason never happened.  He was electric, every time he touched the ball.  Marlin Mack better come of the injured list fast.

Darius Leonard was everywhere.  I'm loving this guy more and more.  It's no error that he led the team in total tackles.  (Ok, he's supposed to, due to scheme.)  But he was good.

Skai Moore was who he thought he was.  He's got great range, and can play the deep middle the way this defense requires.  He still has issues in close run support, and I doubt that will ever change.  But I like him a lot.

Kemoko Turay made some noise, but it will take some time before he unlocks his full potential.  Hopeful, but watchful.

Can you imagine what this rookie class would have been like had Deon Cain not gotten hurt?

 

Deja Vu All Over Again - We seem to have accomplished the thing that we were trying to build with our 2012 draft.  You remember that draft, yes?  QB Luck, TE Fleener, TE Allen, WR Hilton.  Now, the TE double-duo is accomplished with Doyle and Ebron.  All over again.  Only better.  I think.

 

I didn't expect us to win.  With a first time HC, OC, DC.  With injured OT's.  With so many rookies.  It just seemed to be too many issues.  But I'm really encouraged by what I saw.  Best of all, we escaped the game without the devastating injuries we seemed to acquire the last two years.  Let's hope that's a trend.  And all our young players continue to improve.

[NewEra]

We clean up some mistakes. We are going to be stupid good. Grab your popcorn!

[richard pallo]

Clarke wasn't injured he was a healthy scratch. 

[dodsworth]

9 minutes ago, NewEra said:

We clean up some mistakes. We are going to be stupid good. Grab your popcorn!

Given another offseason to allow Ballard to make a few more tweaks

to the roster and we could very well be stupid good.

 

As for this season, I believe we will be a major handful for opponents 

by game 8 or a bit earlier.

[PuntersArePeopleToo]

1 hour ago, NewEra said:

We clean up some mistakes. We are going to be stupid good. Grab your popcorn!

That is really accurate. It is not like the mistakes aren't fixable and some of them are just nerves. Hopefully we get Haeg to RT and AC should be back this week at LT and Mack at RB1 with Spells wilkins maybe even two back sets